Colwyn Harding says cops beat him at police station for disrespect

Colwyn Harding, who has accused police of raping him with a baton during his arrest, yesterday testified that he was repeatedly beaten while in custody at the Timehri Police Station for being disrespectful.

Harding testified yesterday when the trial of police constables Devin Singh and Roselle Tilbury- Douglas continued before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Providence Magistrate’s Court.

Harding, who had previously recounted Singh’s alleged assault on him, during which a baton was rammed up his anus, said that at the Timehri Police Station, where he was being held in the lock-ups, Tilbury-Douglas told him that when Singh returned he would deal with him and another young man, as they had been disrespectful.

He said when Singh returned, he was told that the prisoners, and especially Harding, had been behaving disrespectfully.

Harding, who was led in evidence by special prosecutor Nigel Hughes, recounted that Singh, Tilbury- Douglas and another male then entered the cell. He explained that TilburyDouglas first started to hit him with a baton. He said she then dealt him several blows to his shoulder, back and abdomen for approximately ten minutes.

Afterward, Harding said, Singh collected the baton and hit him about his body while he was crouching in a corner of the cell. He explained that after the severe beating, Singh ordered him to get up and when he did Singh hit him with the baton to his forehead and he lost consciousness.

Harding said he regained consciousness and found the other prisoners fanning him. He said Tilbury-Douglas later placed ice on his head and asked what his problem was. Harding said he told her that he got hit to his head.

Later, he said, he heard Tibury-Douglas asking Singh to take him to the hospital. Singh, he said, kept telling her that could not because the Sergeant in Charge told him to work at a wedding reception. However, Harding said after TilburyDouglas pleaded with Singh, the constable placed shackles on his feet and he was placed in the pri- vate vehicle of another rank, identified as “Officer Grant.” He said Singh and Grant left with him with the intention of taking him to the hospital. However, he said Singh stopped them at a shop and bought alcohol. When he returned to the car, Harding added, Singh told him that he was only playing games and he sucked his teeth at him. As result, Harding said he was slapped several times and the officers turned around and drove back to the station. He was placed to sit on a bench for approximately half an hour before he was returned to the cell.

Harding said he was subsequently escorted by Singh and Grant to the Providence Magistrate’s Court but he was not charged on that day. The following day, he was charged and placed on bail but because couldn’t afford the bail he was escorted to the Camp Street prison.

Ignored

At the prison, Harding said, he had told prison officers he needed to get medical attention. However, he said no one paid attention to him and he was placed in a cell.

Harding went on to tell the court that he fell ill. He said he vomited and was bleeding through his nose. As a result, he was taken to the hospital and given pills and returned to his cell.

However, he told the court that his condition worsened as he began to vomit and faint. He said he was then taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was admitted.

According to Harding, after being admitted he regained consciousness and found himself lying on the hospital bed, with “my intestine outside under bandages.” He said he later saw his mother and was told he had undergone a surgery.

Harding declared on several occasions that he did not sustain any injuries while at the Providence Police Station or at Camp Street prison.

Harding concluded his testimony for the day and the matter was adjourned until February 3rd, when he is expected to conclude his testimony and face cross examination.

Singh, of Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, and TilburyDouglas, of Timehri, East Bank Demerara, are jointly charged with assaulting Harding between November 1 and November 13, 2013, at the Timehri Police Station. Singh is also charged with a separate assault on Harding.

Tilbury- Douglas, who had been granted her release on $100,000 bail, yesterday had her bail reduced to self-bail following an application by her lawyer Leslie Sobers.

The application was made because the woman’s bailer requested that she return the money and she did not have the money to cover the sum as she is an inactive police officer.

Sobers told the court that his client has every intention of clearing her name and she would be attending court regularly. He noted that she has already attended every hearing so far. He also noted that she has surrendered her travel documents to the relevant authorities and remains an inactive officer of the police force.